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* John the farmer was in the fertilized egg business. He had several hundred*


* young layers (hens), called "pullets", and ten roosters, whose job it was to

* fertilize the eggs (for you city folks).


* The farmer kept records and any rooster that didn't perform went into the

* soup pot and was replaced. That took an awful lot of his time, so he bought

* a set of tiny bells and attached them to his roosters. Each bell had a

* different tone so John could tell from a distance, which rooster was

* performing.



* Now he could sit on the porch and fill out an efficiency report simply by

* listening to the bells. The farmer's favorite rooster was old Butch and a

* very fine specimen he was, too.



* But on this particular morning John noticed old Butch's bell hadn't rung at

* all! John went to investigate. The other roosters were chasing pullets,

* bells-a-ringing. The pullets, hearing the roosters coming, would run for

* cover.

*

** But to Farmer John's amazement, old Butch had his bell in his beak,

* so it couldn't ring. He would sneak up on a pullet, do his job and walk on

* to the next one. John was so proud of old Butch, he entered him in the

* County Fair and he became an overnight sensation among the judges.



* The result...The judges not only awarded old Butch the No Bell Piece Prize

* But they also granted him the Pulletsurprise*award as well.



* Clearly old Butch was a politician in the making: Who else but a politician

* could figure out how to win two of the most highly coveted awards on our

* planet by being the best at sneaking up on the populace and screwing them

* when they weren't paying attention.